Thoughts on globalisation…

“We have to show the international bodies that our policies enjoy massive support at the level of rank and file union members. We share a common concern at the need to build a sustainable world economy which benefits the many, not just the few.”
Umraomal Purohit, ITF President

“If globalisation means more international movement of goods and people, it has to produce more jobs for transport workers. But governments and corporations that want to be part of a global economy have to respect global social standards.

We have one big advantage. Transport, and particularly maritime transport, has always been a global industry. For over 50 years we have been fighting flags of convenience in shipping and building a unique global union structure. Today seafarers’ and dockers’ unions from every country know that the only way they have real bargaining power against employers is to act together. The civil aviation industry has been going in the same direction and we’re now faced with bus and truck and even rail multinational employers.
David Cockroft, ITF General Secretary

We need binding global frameworks to ensure that neither governments not companies can obtain competitive advantage from the violation of workers’ fundamental human rights. If not, we will all live in a world of ‘flags of employer convenience’ regardless of industry.”
Guy Ryder, General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)

“There should be a struggle which is aimed at shifting the balance of forces between labour and capital. That means fighting neo-liberal policies, not accepting them in exchange for formal minimum labour standards.”
Asbjørn Wahl, Norsk Kommuneforbund, Norway

“Nothing we do today in the trade union movement can be constrained in national boundaries. Everything we do is global.”
Norbert Hansen, Transnet, Germany, ITF Railway Section Chair

“Alliances (with groups campaigning on poverty, justice and the environment) will be critical to fighting back for social justice, for working people and for their families. So far we are not doing that very well.”
Carol Phillips, CAW, Canada

“To demand globalisation with a human face is utopian”.
Kemal Ülker, Hava-Is, Turkey

“Access to medicine, food, water and sanitation are daily challenges for millions of people. Democratic rights are nothing without economic rights.”
Randall Howard, Satawu, South Africa

Next issue TI readers answer the question: Should there be quotas for women on trade union committees – and why/why not? Please email your views, in a maximum of 50 words, to parris_kay@itf.org.uk, closing date 10 February 2003.